Hidden Truths
by MelloLily
Summary: This is a marauders story when Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus went to Hogwarts. Focuses on Remus being a werewolf and Sirius and his home life. I plan to add more.


The lights in the dormitory were off , the students in bed. Night time had fallen and the 1st year students in Gryffindor were fast asleep in their four poster beds. The only other first year boys in Gryffindor was Remus's best friends. James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.  
><em>I hope they don't ever find out why I am gone once a month . . . I cannot lose such great friends such as these people. They must never find out that I am a werewolf. <em>Remus thought this to himself as he headed to Gryffindor tower.  
>Remus was quiet as he slipped underneath the covers of his bed. He needed sleep, since tomorrow was the last day before the end of the year exams. The night before was a full moon, and Remus was just coming back from the hospital wing, feeling almost completely recovered. Before Remus could close his eyes, the lamp next to Sirius's bed flickered on.<br>"Hey Remus, about time you came back from visiting your ill mother." Sirius said with sarcasm in his voice.  
>Remus shuddered as he noted from Sirius's tone that Sirius did not believe his story. "Yeah, she seems to have gotten better, so I did not have to stay there for a long time." Remus said convincingly.<br>James and Peter got out of bed and sat themselves at the end of Remus's bed, Sirius sitting in a chair next to Remus's bed.  
>James was the first one to speak. "Remus, why do you lie to us, your friends? Why don't you tell us why you really left?" James pleaded.<br>"I told you, I had to visit my mother who had fallen ill." Remus replied, feeling nervous. Had they found out the truth?  
>"Remus, that is a lie and you know it. We know why you are always gone, every month." Sirius said, his voice soft and quiet.<br>"Y-you do?" Remus asked, shaking slightly.  
>James answered, "We do know. You seem to be always gone once a month. And when we looked at the days you have been gone, we noticed that you are always gone on the full moon."<br>James paused and Sirius picked up where James stopped speaking. "Then we started to read about creatures related to the full moon and their characteristics. We found some interesting things out about werewolves." Sirius's voice was still calm, as if this was an everyday conversation they were having.  
>There was a moment's silence as Remus thought about what he heard. After a minute, Remus spoke, his voice shaking slightly. "And w-what did you f-find out?" Remus asked stuttering, not wanting to hear the answer that he knew was coming.<br>"We know that you are a werewolf, Remus." Sirius muttered clearly, his eyes full of sympathy.  
>Remus threw the covers off him and stood up, facing the three of them. When he spoke, there was anger in his tone, a tone that the others had never heard before from Remus. "And so what if I am? If you don't want to be my friends, then fine. I do not care!" At this, Remus headed for the door, flinging it open and going to the common room. In truth, he did care if they stopped being friends. But he knew that they would never want to be friends with him. It has happened before. Before he went to Hogwarts, he made a friend. After two years of their friendship, Remus admitted to his so called friend on what he was. Their friendship ended immediately.<br>He heard people coming into the common room. Sirius, James, and Peter caught up with him. Remus made a run for the portrait hole, not wanting to face them. Before he could get near the door to get out, he was stopped, as Sirius and James held his arms, pulling him back. "Remus, wait, we need to talk to you." James said, struggling for breath as he held Remus back. Peter stood in front of the door, blocking it encase Remus escaped the other two's grip.  
>Remus relaxed a little, allowing James and Sirius to guide him back upstairs to their dormitory. They softly pushed Remus back down on his bed. As Remus sat there, he could feel tears quietly finding their way down his cheeks.<br>"Remus, we would never stop being your friends, just because you are a werewolf." Sirius said, sitting down next to him, rubbing his back.  
>James sat down on the other side of Remus, taking a handkerchief and whipping away his tears. Peter sat on the ground in front of Remus.<br>"Remus, do you really think that we care that you are a werewolf? It doesn't change the person you are, the person we know." Peter said.  
>After a minute when Remus felt a bit better, he spoke. "Do you really mean that? Are you still interested in being a werewolf's friend?" Remus asked, uncertain.<br>"We aren't interested in being a werewolf's friend. But we are interested in being Remus Lupin's friends. But only on one condition." Sirius responded.  
>"What is that one condition?" Remus asked, uncertain.<br>"Never keep a secret like this from us again." Sirius pleaded.  
>Remus smiled. "I promise I won't keep secrets again." Remus paused before speaking again. "Thanks you three. For being there for me. I am sorry I didn't tell you guys this."<br>"It's alright, we understand why you didn't tell us. But did you seriously think we wouldn't be your friends if we knew what you were?" James asked.  
>"I did actually think that. It has happened to me before." Remus said, blushing. How could he have thought that these great friends would abandon him if they knew? He should have known that they would not have left him.<br>"Well then, shame on them. They lost a good friend." Peter said, James and Sirius nodding their agreement.

* * *

><p>Remus had finally fallen asleep. The other three went to sleep as soon as they saw that Remus was asleep.<br>The next morning, Remus woke up before the others and went to the great hall to have breakfast. When Sirius and James finally joined him at the table, Remus had just finished eating and left as soon as they sat down to eat, trying to avoid them. He knew that they were still friends, it just felt awkward to be near them, knowing that they knew what he was.  
>"I think that he feels uneasy about us knowing his secret." James said, a frown on his face as Remus got up and left.<p>

"We should do something to help him feel better. Hey, you remember on how the chapter about the werewolves it said that werewolves are only harmful to humans?" Sirius asked, continuing as James nodded. "Well, what if we weren't humans?"  
>"What are you getting at, Sirius?" James asked confused.<br>"Just think about it! What if we could transform into something else? Like an animal." Sirius said, the idea coming to him.  
>"You mean become animagi?" James asked, getting what Sirius was hinting at.<br>"Exactly. If anyone could do it, we could. Come on, lets go to the library and see what we can find out about animagi." Sirius said, getting up and stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth.  
>James did the same and together they left for the library. When they entered the library, they found out where Remus had disappeared to. He was at a table near a window, his head bent over a book. Sirius went down an aisle of books and found what he was looking for. A book for animagi. He and James went to sit at the same table as Remus and started reading through the book, taking notes.<br>Remus's curiosity got the best of him, and finally he had to ask. "What are you two up to?" Remus asked suspiciously.  
>"We had an idea after you left from breakfast." Sirius answered simply.<br>"What kind of an idea?" Remus asked, getting up and looking at the cover of the book. "Wait a moment...animagi? Don't tell me you two are going to attempt to become animagus."  
>"That is exactly what we are trying to do." James replied.<br>"Wait, you can't do that! It's illegal!" Remus said softly, since Madam Pince was near.  
>"Yes we can, and we will. This way we can keep you company on the full moons." Sirius said, his eyes gazing over the pages in the book.<br>Remus sat down, not knowing what to do. Them doing this for him sounded like a good idea. But if they got caught, they could go to Azkaban or get expelled.  
>"Remus, we would do anything for you to make you happy about your transformations, even if we got caught, it would be worth it." James said, seeing Remus's sad look.<br>Remus smiled, looking down at the ground. "Just be careful...Thanks." He said, feeling happy for the first time in a long time.  
>Sirius looked up at Remus. "Don't worry, we have it under control. If we find out that this will be too hard for us to do, we won't do it. Sound good?"<br>Remus looked up at Sirius, smiling. "Sounds great to me actually. Just be sure to hurry up in here, first lesson is going to start in three minutes." Remus said, getting up, swinging his bag on his shoulder and leaving to go to transfiguration.  
>James looked at the time, "I didn't realize that class was going to start so soon. Lets go." James said, putting the book in his bag and heading off to transfiguration.<br>There, James and Sirius met up with Remus and Peter. Quickly, James explained to Peter in his ear what they were going to do for Remus, thinking it best to include Peter in this project.  
>Mrs. McGonagall opened the classroom door for class to start just as James finished explaining it to Peter.<br>The four of them spent the whole lesson in the back of the room, discussing the difficulties of becoming animagus. Remus mostly sat there the whole time, being quiet. Occasionally speaking when he felt something needed to be said. Class ended in no time, and for the first time, Remus did not even bother to take notes. He did not even pay attention to the lesson.  
>"Mr. Lupin, please come here for a minute." Professor McGonagall called out to Remus from her desk.<br>As the rest of the class filed out of the classroom, Remus went up to McGonagall's desk and waited for her to speak. Sirius, James, and Peter stayed at the table they were at to wait for Remus.  
>"You three go ahead, I need to talk to Remus privately." Professor McGonagall told them. The three of them looked at each other and shrugged, leaving the classroom. "See you in the hallway, Remus." Sirius called behind his back.<br>Once the door had closed, McGonagall spoke. "I thought that you would have stayed in the hospital wing longer. Are you okay to be going to your classes?" She asked.  
>"Yeah, I feel fine. I just don't want to miss lessons since exams are coming up. But why did my friends have to leave for you to ask me this?" Remus asked, smiling to himself.<br>"Well because I didn't think you would want to try and come up with an excuse on why you were in the hospital wing in the first place." McGonagall replied, her voice soft.  
>"Oh that. They know that I am a werewolf, ma'am." Remus stated innocently.<br>"They know? But you aren't supposed to tell anyone this, Remus." McGonagall said concerned.  
>"I didn't tell them. They figured it out on their own and they just told me last night that they knew." Remus said with a shrug.<br>"They figured it out on their own?" McGonagall asked, surprised.  
>"Yeah, they did professor. May I leave now?" Remus asked, wanting to get a good table in potions.<br>"Sure. Just make sure that your friends don't tell anyone." McGonagall said, worried.  
>"They won't. Bye professor." Remus said, walking to the door to meet up with his friends, who were leaning up against the wall next to the classroom door.<br>"Why did the professor want to talk to you?" James asked, curious.  
>"She was just wondering why I wasn't in the hospital wing, since I usually stay there longer." Remus thought no more about it and walked on to their next class, potions, with professor Slughorn. <p>

The day went by fairly quick. Before Remus realized it, the day was over. He sat himself in front of the fire in an armchair, getting started on his homework, which was considerably longer than usual, since exams were near and he had missed a couple days from his transformation. Sirius and James finished their homework first. Peter still had quite a bit to do and Remus was nearly done. James pulled out the animagi book, taking more notes. After an hour or two, James closed the book, a satisfied smile on his face. "I just got through the whole book, and I think I have enough information for us to start the process to become animagi."  
>Sirius beamed. "Great! So how long do you think it would take for the process to be done?"<br>"I would say that we would be able to get it done by the end of our fourth year. I know it seems like a long time, but it will be worth it." James said with a slight frown from the thought on how long it would take.  
>"Well, that is not too bad." Sirius said, thinking about it while looking over James's notes.<br>"So, are you three sure that you want to do this?" Remus asked uncertain.  
>"Of course we are sure!" James replied.<br>Night time had fallen a long time ago and all of the other Gryffindors were already in bed. The only ones left in the common room was Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus.  
>The portrait hole opened, and to the surprise of the four of them, professor Dumbledore came in.<br>"Ah, I thought that you four would still be up." The headmaster said as he took a seat next to James in an armchair. "I wanted to talk to you three." Dumbledore said, indicating his head to Peter, Sirius, and James. "I heard from professor McGonagall that you three now know that Remus is a werewolf, correct?"  
>Sirius nodded, lost for words.<br>Dumbledore continued speaking. "I just ask that you three keep this a secret and do not mention this to anyone. It would be extremely bad if this information got out."  
>"Professor, we would never tell anyone this. Remus is our friend and we would do nothing to harm him." James replied.<br>"I am glad to hear that. I am also glad to know that you three will continue to be friends with Remus." Dumbledore said, clearly happy. "Well then, I guess that there is no more reason for me to be here. Good night." And with that, Dumbledore got up and walked out of the portrait hole and was gone.  
>"Well, that was interesting..." Sirius said, laughing softly.<br>"Yeah, no kidding. I never thought that Dumbledore would simply come here just to talk to three 1st year students." James nodded in agreement with Sirius.  
>"Come on, lets go to bed." Remus said, noticeably happy.<p>

First year at Hogwarts went by quick. The train departed from Hogsmade station. Remus sat in a compartment with his fellow three friends. The ride to Kings Cross station was exceptionally quiet. The train came to a stop and there were noises as everyone excitedly got off the train to enjoy summer.  
>"Hey, we have to make a promise." James said as they got off the train. "Lets make sure to write to each other during the summer." James said, putting his hand out for the others to put their own hands on. They all put their hands on top of James and gave the knot of hands a little shake.<br>"Bye, I have to go. My parents are over there waiting for me." Remus said with a last wave to them. He hurried off and entered the barrier back into the muggle world with his parents. The other three gradually separated as well. First year done, another six awaiting them.

Sirius's own mother had not come to pick him up from Kings Cross station. He rolled his eyes, a bit annoyed and walked out of the barrier. When he entered the streets of London, he went down a deserted street and flung out his right arm. A second later and with a loud bang, the big, three storied, purple bus appeared. Sirius got on and was relieved when the bus finally stopped in front of Grimmuld Place number 12. Sirius got off the Nightbus and dragged his suitcase up the steps, entering the house he did not like so much. He unpacked his stuff in his room and went to the kitchen to eat. There at the table was his mother. A woman that Sirius neither liked nor disliked. She was just there in his life, but until this day, he never thought that he could hate her.  
>"Just so you are aware, Sirius, I am not picking you up at the station. You are a disgrace to the whole Black family." She said with a sneer.<br>"A disgrace? How am I a disgrace to a family that has already disgraced itself?" Sirius said, irritated.  
>"You did not get into Slytherin. And worse, you got into Gryffindor. The Black family are proud and are strong. We have not been disgraced until you came along." She said, loathing in her voice. She turned away from Sirius and ignored him.<br>"Oh yeah, because Slytherin is so great." Sirius said, sarcastically. "It is you and this whole family that is messed up. You and the rest of this family that I hate, is nothing but scum." Sirius said, annoyed with his mother. He turned around to leave, but before he could take a step, he fell to the ground in pain. He wiggled and squirmed on the floor, painfully.  
>"How dare you speak to me like that! You will go back up to your room, now, and stay up there until I say you can come out." Sirius's mother said, her voice at a yelling point.<br>Sirius quickly got up and ran to his room. He slammed the door shut behind him and fell on his bed, the effect of the curciatos curse still taking a toll on his body.  
>Two days had passed before Sirius's mother finally let him out of his room. Sirius was still in shock from the curse his mother had put on him. On top of that, he had not ate anything while he was in his room. When he walked into the kitchen, he quietly took out a loaf of bread, but before he could take a piece of it, it was snatched out of his hand.<br>"Just because you are allowed out of your room, doesn't mean that you are allowed to eat." She said, placing the loaf of bread back into the cupboard. Sirius dared not argue, afraid that he would get punished. He walked out of the kitchen and back to his room. Before he could reach his bedroom, the door he was passing opened.  
>"I am going to make mom proud when I get into Slytherin." Regulus said from his bedroom door.<br>"You want to make her proud? Wow, I pity you." Sirius said slyly, walking away before Regulus could have a chance to speak back.  
>Another night had passed and Sirius couldn't take it any longer. He was starving, still not allowed to eat.<br>The next night, Sirius made a decision. Packing all of his stuff in his suitcase, he sneaked out of the house while everyone was asleep. Again, he entered the Nightbus. The bus was nearly empty, so it did not take long for the bus to stop in front of the house Sirius intended to go to. Sirius got off, feeling really sick from not eating and on top of it going onto the Nightbus. It was now 1:22am. Sirius wondered if he should wait to knock on the door till morning, when the people inside would be awake. But his stomach screamed with pain. Sirius took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The house was dark and all lights were off. At the sound of Sirius's knock, a soft light flickered on. Sirius held his breath as the door opened.  
>"Hello young lad. May I help you with something?" A man asked him.<br>"Uh-yeah. Is this the Potter's household?" He asked, nervous.  
>"Yes, it is. May I ask who you are?" The guy asked kindly.<br>"I am Sirius Black, sir. I am a friend of James from school." Sirius replied.  
>"Ah! So you are the Sirius that James has been talking about! Please, come in." The man said, stepping aside to let Sirius in.<br>Sirius walked in and followed Mr. Potter into the living room. "I am sorry to wake you up this late, sir." Sirius apologized.  
>"It's fine. And there is no need to call me sir." Mr. Potter said, smiling.<br>There were footsteps sounding from the stairs. "Hey dad, who is it that came here this late?" James asked in a tired voice as he entered the room. Once he spotted Sirius, he seemed to have been fully awake. "Sirius! What are you doing here?" James asked, surprised, running up to him to give him a quick hug.  
>Sirius spent a good ten minutes explaining why he was here and what had happened at home. "...And I was wondering if I could stay here for awhile." Sirius finished.<br>James and his father sat in silence and listened to the whole story, both of them seemed to have been crying in the inside. "Sirius, you are welcomed to stay here as long as you want." Mr. Potter replied.  
>"Oh thank you!" Sirius said, a smile appearing on his face.<br>"No problem. You can stay in James room while you are here." Mr. Potter said.  
>"Come on!" James said excitedly, grabbing Sirius's suitcase and dragging it out into the hallway and up the stairs into his bedroom.<br>Sirius followed along with Mr. Potter, who summoned up another bed for Sirius in James's room and left to go back to bed.  
>"Are you hungry?" James asked, concerned.<br>"Yeah, I am. But I'll just wait till morning. Right now, I am tired." Sirius said, getting under the covers on the newly summoned bed. His head hit the pillow and he was asleep as soon as it made contact with the pillow. James smiled, amused, and got into bed as well.


End file.
